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UNITED STATES ATENE OFFICE,

LEMUEL P. JENKS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR 'IO LEVI L. TOIVER,OF SAME PLACE.

INKSTAND.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,Sll, dated DccmeberS, 1863.

To ctZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LEMUEL I. JENKs, of Boston, county of Suffolk, andState of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Vessel for theOontainin g and Delivering of Inks; a-nd I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description of my invention.

The nature of my invention' consists in so arranging and constructing aninkstand that the smallest area possible may be exposed to evaporation,while it at the same time delivers the ink copiously to the pen when inuse, and admits of ready adjustment to allow'the ink to subside whenexpelled by expansion of the air when the contrivance is in a heatedroom.

In the drawings annexed, Figure l represents a top view; Fig. 2, a sideview, and Fig. 3 a vertical section View.

A A A A, Fig. 3, represent an obtuse hollowfrustum of a cone with thehollow side uppermost, thus forming a basin, bordered at b b by a flatring. At the smaller end of this basin is a smaller, hollow, roundedfrustum of a cone, C C, (forming a tunnel,) and at its lower end ahollow cylinder, d d, the area of whose aperture is one-eighth inch indiameter. Beneath the ring b b is another ring, c e, with an exteriorgroove, t', running round its periph` ery. The whole of the above,forming the upper reservoir, is formed in one piece and is made(preferably) of glass, though it can be made of hardened or otherrubber, wood or other material.

F F, Fig. 3, is a hollow vessel, round in top view, (preferablyofglass,)with its sides rounded (in section) so as to present (in section) thegeneral appearance of a hollow, rounded frustum of a cone, with its basesolid and its top open. This is the ink-containing vessel or lowerreservoir. Its top is made sutliciently high so as that when thearrangement is put together the said top reaches about half an inch(more or less) above the top of the second cone, c c. Three-quarters ofan inch (more or less) below (outside) the top of the vessel F F is agroove, m, round its periphery.

G G represent an elastic band, of indiarubber, of thickness enough tomake it moderately stiff, with a bead at its upper and lower portion,inside, which two beads it respectively into the groove round the outerside of the ring e e, above, and the groove round the outer side ofthevessel F F, below.

The operation of the contrivance is this: The india-rubber ring or bandG G, being put in its place, connects the vessel F F and the topportion, A A A A, supporting the latter portion (the upper reservoir)above the former, (the lower reservoir.) The india-rubber ring G G,performing the functions of a valve, being pushed with the linger at itslower side away from the side of the vessel F F, allowing the containedair to escape, the ink is poured into the aperture of A A A A till itpartially fills the vessel F F, and reaches halfway to the upper part ofthe cylinder d d. When the ink is wanted,the hand is lightly placed onthe ring b b, and is gently pressed, diminishing the area of thecontaining-vessel, and the ink rises up (according to the amount ofpressure) into the funnel c c, and the pen, bein g dipped therein,issupplied with ink, when the pressure is removed and the ink falls backinto thereservoir F F, presenting for evaporation a circular area ofonly oneeighth of an inch in diameter. Should the reservoir F F befilled in a high temperature-say 800 Fahrenheit-and then taken into acold place, a slight additional pressure of the hand gives the necessarydiminution of its containing area to force the ink to a proper level.Should the reservoir F F be filled at a low temperature-say320Fahrenheit-and then be subsequently carried into a heated place, theexpansion of the air inside the inkstand, expelling the ink, carries theink-supply to a'point below the top of the upper reservoir, A A A A, andthe india-rubber ring G, being pressed for an instant upward, away fromthe vessel F F, the ink immediately sinks back into the reservoir FF,and no loss of ink results; and the upper portion can be made ofcompressible rubber, shrinking upon the lower reservoir, F F, thusdispensing with the compressible r1ng.

I do not claim an inkstand with an aperture covered with elasticsubstance to secure the advantage by compression of the rising andfalling of the ink, nor do I claim an inkstand made of all compressiblesubstance, voir F und the dipping-cup c, us and for the With no valvefor the equalization of the zLtpurposes shown. mospheric pressure; but

What I claim herein as of my own invention, LEM UEL P' JENKS and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is lVitnesses:

In the construction of nkstands, the com- A. KINGSBURY, binution of theelastic ring G with the reser- A. O. ALLEN.

